The xx
xx

THE GIFT OF SYNTHESIS

The word "synthesis" comes from Late Latin, synthĕsis, derived from Greek, σύνϑεσις, "composition", derived from a term that means "to put together"; it is the process that puts together parts to compose a whole, a complete, inclusive, and conceptually finished whole. Synthesis is the mode by which the essential parts of something are selected and brought together to give life to that something purified of all things that do not fit its definition. Therefore, the concept of synthesis has nothing to do with subtraction, with less, but rather with the essential, the effective, the solid. So even a plus.

Synthesis is a dark room, neon lights, few elements. The bare essentials. Synthesis is a very orderly person, not very talkative, who, instead of filling the air with words, plays the guitar and hits 3 notes, the right ones. They have the gift of synthesis. The XX possess this gift, an enigmatic couple that together implode with identity: XX, equal, human beings, yet different, opposite sexes that love each other, speak of love, and together merge to create an incredible sound.

In 2009, XX was released. Full but never too full, alternating with empty spaces that blend everything together without ever being excessive, yet evident in the light and shadows of the tracks. But here it is, the magic happens. It seems that in the harmonies of the sounds a different voice is composed between the lines, born from the sound, a woman's voice deeply mixing with that of a man, almost the same thing, born from the same trunk to then blossom into two wonderful and unique flowers, delicate, soft colors. Neither predominates over the other, both in continuous and circulating dialogue, a harmonious and electric dialectic where no one is the primary voice, no one is in the background chorus. The XX are a sweet fusion, intimate and powerful, of pure and translucent sound, worked and purified of technical pretentiousness that could divert attention or dampen the atmosphere of electric suspension that the two naturally create. Like sea waves, they move together and feed each other. Minimal synthesis and naturalness are the two adjectives that describe the project, without ostentation but at the same time curated in every detail, a care that pop sometimes omits.

When they emerged, they were among the 50 most promising names of young artists and technologies thanks to the coolest self-produced album of that moment, a pure sound that surely recalls that of the Young Marble Giants enriched by catchy pop and loops of melodic lines that repeat like a music box that plays when the party is over, when you decide to leave everything as it is and grant yourself the last dance, the last union. Highlights of the album are undoubtedly Crystallised and Night Time: if you close your eyes and listen to these tracks, like the whole album from the beginning to the end, you feel compelled to listen to every vibration and sound in detail as if we were in a cave, a raw and bare new wave cave where at some point you dance following the drum machines, because the subtext of this floaty sound is clubbing, it’s undulating and sinuous, almost funk or dance like in Basic Space; in Infinity instead, the synthetic minimalism and essence of this duo is translated and summarized, a nocturnal journey without lights and without direction, while in loop go the shorter and more memorable pieces (VCR, Islands) and recall that indie pop flavor of which the band is a representative.

Every track on this album is a gem, and the album itself was at the time a raw diamond that entered the history of the coolest sounds of the new millennium capable of marking an era and an artistic direction for all those who would wear velvet gloves and begin to play a space-time genre out of this world, electric, exclusive. Synthetic.